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Join the daily live broadcast of the recitation of the Holy Rosary in link-ups with Marian shrines around the world, as part of the May marathon of prayer called by Pope Francis.
"Guided by Shrines around the world during this month of May, we recite the Rosary to invoke an end to the pandemic and the resumption of social and work-related activities." (Pope Francis, General Audience, 5 May 2021)
For the end of the pandemic and the resumption of our social and economic life
Holy Rosary recitation and Holy Mass from Ta' Pinu Shrine, Gozo (Malta) - Tuesday, 25th May 2021
Meditation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu, Gozo (Malta), according to H.H. Pope Francis' general intention for the end of the pandemic.
- On Tuesday, 25th May 2021, intention was offered for all teachers, educators and students.
- At 1:08:00 of same video below, starts Holy Mass, presided by Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna
Archaeologists
have unearthed fragments of a 1,900-year-old Biblical scroll in Israel,
in what experts are calling the most important discovery in the last 60
years.
By Devin Watkins
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has unveiled an historic discovery of Biblical proportions in several desert caves.
In a dig that began in 2017, archaeologists discovered around 80 new parchment fragments of Old Testament texts.
They contain verses written in Greek—with the name of God appearing
in Hebrew—from the books of Zechariah and Nahum, which are part of the
Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.
The fragments form part of a scroll which experts believe belonged to
Jewish rebels, led by Simon Bar Kokhba, who hid in the caves after a
failed revolt against Roman rule between 132 and 136 AD.
Israeli archaeologists began the operation in the Judean desert to
prevent caves from being looted. They also unearthed a cache of rare
coins from the same period, a 6,000-year-old skeleton of a child, and a
large woven basket dating from around 10,500 years ago, the oldest
intact in the world.
image 1 - A cache of rare coins was also unearthed
‘Cave of Horror’
The discovery was made in a difficult-to-reach mountain enclosure
known as the “Cave of Horror”, which lies some 40 km south of Jerusalem.
It acquired that intriguing name after 40 human skeletons were found
there during excavations in the 1960s. Experts say they were the remains
of men, women, and children who fled to the cave to escape the Romans
but died instead of hunger and thirst.
They brought with them what are now precious objects, including
cooking utensils, personal belongings, and documents and Biblical texts.
image 2 - A 6,000-year-old skeleton of a child was found in the caves
New page in biblical discoveries
Marcello Fidanzio, the Director of the Archaeological and Cultural
Institute of Biblical Lands in Lugano, described the find to Vatican
News as “a new page in the history of archaeological excavations.”
He said it is the first discovery of note since the great excavations
in the 1940s and ‘50s, which brought the Dead Sea Scrolls to light in
Qumran and the Judean desert.
“Discoveries of such significance,” he pointed out, “rekindle the excitement of pioneers.”
image 3 - The Cave of Horror lies high above the Judean desert
Much left to find
The Israel Antiquities Authority says some 600-odd caves were mapped
using drones and advanced survey technology. Besides the announced
discovery, some 20 caves could still contain important artifacts.
“This is something we Bible scholars are passionate about,” according
to Prof. Fidanzio, “but the discovery is also of great importance to
Israelis, who highlight this research as being linked to their identity
and the history of their presence in the land of Israel.”
Witness of ‘textual fluidity’
The fragments contain very small amounts of text from the Old Testament, but they still have something to offer scholars.
Prof. Fidanzio noted that they provide evidence of “textual
fluidity”, which was when the Biblical text was not yet stable or fixed.
“It was only later that the Scriptures were canonized, fixed, and then
handed down with great fidelity to the present day.”
He said the Cave of Horror scroll can help scholars understand a stage which led to the definitive text.
“These discoveries show us an extremely fascinating historical
moment: one in which the Bible finds its final form,” said the Lugano
professor.
image 4 - The fragments shown together
Respect for God’s name
As mentioned, the fragments are written primarily in Greek, with only
the name of God written in Paleo-Hebrew, which was used at the time of
the First Temple (until 586 BC).
Prof. Fidanzio said it shows “great respect for the unutterable name of God.”
“Writing it in another alphabet,” he concluded, “is a scribal
strategy that seeks to focus the readers attention on those letters. It
points God’s name out as something which commands great respect and
sacredness.”
Vatican CDF says use of anti-COVID-19 vaccines “morally acceptable” 22/12/2020
“It is morally acceptable to receive
Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in
their research and production process.”
Due to the situation of the ongoing
pandemic, “all vaccinations recognized as clinically safe and effective
can be used in good conscience with the certain knowledge that the use
of such vaccines does not constitute formal cooperation with the
abortion from which the cells used in production of the vaccines
derive.”
The Vatican’s Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) made these statements in a note signed by
the Prefect, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, and the Secretary, Archbishop
Giacomo Morandi. The text was explicitly approved by Pope Francis on 17
December and released on Monday.
Clarifying doubts
The CDF document, which was published as
many countries are preparing to implement vaccination campaigns,
authoritatively intervenes to clarify doubts and questions which have
emerged from sometimes contradictory statements on the subject.
The “Note on the morality of using some
anti-Covid-19 vaccines” recalls three previous pronouncements on the
same topic: one from the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) in 2005; the
CDF Instruction Dignitas Personae in 2008; and, another note from the PAV in 2017.
Moral aspects
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith says it does not “intend to judge the safety and efficacy” of
current vaccines against Covid-19, which is the responsibility of
biomedical researchers and drug agencies. Rather, the CDF focuses on the
moral aspects of receiving vaccines developed using cell lines from
tissue obtained from two fetuses that were aborted in the 1960s.
The Instruction Dignitas Personae,
approved by Pope Benedict XVI, pointed out that “there exist differing
degrees of responsibility”, because “in organizations where cell lines
of illicit origin are being utilized, the responsibility of those who
make the decision to use them is not the same as that of those who have
no voice in such a decision.”
Therefore, argues the note published on
Monday in summing up the Instruction of 2008, “when ethically
irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available”, it is “morally
acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from
aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”
‘Remote cooperation’
The CDF says the reason for considering
these vaccines morally licit is the “kind of cooperation” in the evil of
abortion, which is “remote” on the part of those receiving the vaccine.
Therefore, the “moral duty to avoid such
passive material cooperation is not obligatory” since there exists a
grave danger, in the form of an “uncontainable spread of a serious
pathological agent.”
The Covid-19 pandemic, says the CDF, fulfills this requirement.
“In such a case, all vaccinations
recognized as clinically safe and effective can be used in good
conscience with the certain knowledge that the use of such vaccines does
not constitute formal cooperation with the abortion from which the
cells used in the production of the vaccines derive.”
Not a legitimation of abortion
The Congregation clarifies that “the
morally licit use of these types of vaccines, in the particular
conditions that make it so, does not in itself constitute a
legitimation, even indirect, of the practice of abortion, and
necessarily assumes the opposition to this practice by those who make
use of these vaccines.” Nor should it imply a moral approval of the use
of cell lines proceeding from aborted fetuses.
The CDF note calls on pharmaceutical
companies and government health agencies to “produce, approve,
distribute and offer ethically acceptable vaccines that do not create
problems of conscience.”
Voluntary vaccination
At the same time, the Congregation recalls
that “vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that,
therefore, it must be voluntary.”
The morality of vaccination, it notes,
depends both on the duty to protect one’s own health and the pursuit of
the common good. “In the absence of other means to stop or even prevent
the epidemic, the common good may recommend vaccination, especially to
protect the weakest and most exposed.”
Those who for reasons of conscience reject
vaccines produced with cell lines from aborted fetuses, however, must
“do their utmost to avoid, by other prophylactic means and appropriate
behavior, becoming vehicles for the transmission of the infectious
agent.”
Distribution to poor countries
Finally, the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith says it is “a moral imperative” for the pharmaceutical
industry, governments, and international organizations to ensure that
effective and ethically acceptable vaccines are accessible “to the
poorest countries in a manner that is not costly for them.”
“The lack of access to vaccines,
otherwise, would become another sign of discrimination and injustice
that condemns poor countries to continue living in health, economic and
social poverty.”
Source: Vatican News
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14 Jan 2021 - Vatican confirms that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis received the Covid-19 vaccine
